UCLA, USC, Pomona College among top 50 LGBT-friendly colleges

Campus Pride released its list of the top 50 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-friendly colleges and universities in America on Friday.

The national organization for LGBT, queer and ally students aims to build future leaders in safer colleges and universities that can nurture the quality of life for these individuals. Nine California insitutions made the cut, including Stanford University, UCLA and USC.

“While this top 50 list demonstrates the positive progress to support LGBT students within higher education, we must also commit ourselves to the campuses not on the list — in rural areas, southern states and other types of campuses like two year colleges,” Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride, said in a statement. “Historically black colleges and universities and religious-affiliated campuses (are places) where pioneering LGBT work to create a safe learning environment is still a real struggle.”

The list is based on the Campus Pride Index, a national, benchmarking tool that allows people to assess LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices. The index includes more than 425 campuses.

This is the first year Campus Pride released a list of 50 “Best of the Best.” Previously the organization featured 25 institutions.

“For six years in a row, Campus Pride has seen an increase in the number of campuses coming out as LGBT-friendly and making notable improvements to LGBT academic life, so we decided to honor 50 campuses with our national distinction,” Windmeyer said in a statement.

The top 50 geographically mirrors areas in the United States that have traditionally supported and advocated for the LGBT community.